Cape Peninsula, SA – what we did

After about 30 hours of travel we arrived at Cape Town airport, sleep deprived and smelly. We were met by a camper van rep and after an introduction to our van, we set off in search of a campsite. (‘Meet our van’ blog post to follow). Unfortunately, due to some flight delays, we ended up having to drive through rush hour. Credit goes to Andy who did a great job of getting us to our destination in one piece!

We drove to Imhoff Caravan Park near Kommetjie, which on a good day is about an hour or so from the airport. The campsite is gated, each pitch has electricity and it’s own braai (barbecue). The showers have hot water and the wash blocks are super clean. It’ll cost you RD 260 a night for the two of you in a van. We ended up staying here for 3 nights.

We spent 2 days driving around the Cape Peninsula. I’ve split out what we did on each day…

Day 1

We headed across the Peninsula towards Fish Hoek which is a seaside town. The beach here is sandy and runs along the entire length of the town. There is a train which runs behind the beach all the way along the shore. Looked like a great way to get around if you don’t have your own transport.

We carried on driving south past Simon’s Town and then onto Boulders Bay. This is where you find African penguins. Yup, penguins. I was probably pretty daft thinking that they only lived in cold places! There is a boardwalk that runs along the protected penguin colony which you can walk along and we saw a few penguins along here. If you want to get closer or want a guaranteed view of the penguins, then pay RD 70 and you have access to the beach where the penguins hang out, surf the waves and catch some rays (it is fenced off so you can’t try and put a penguin in your handbag to take home).

Keep driving south and you get to the entrance gate to Cape Point. This is the most southerly point of the Cape Peninsula and totally worth paying the entrance fee of RD 165. The entire area is part of the Table Mountain National Park and has just a few roads running through it. We climbed up to a few view points. Just look at the photos below. Need I say more?

Day 2

We drove back to Fish Hoek on the east cost of the Peninsula and carried on north a little to a fishing village called Kalk Bay. The highlight of Kalk Bay has to be the seal stealing fish out of a fisherman’s bucket right there on the pier. Who needs a pet dog when you can have a seal?!

We then drove to the west coast of the Peninsula and further north to do the Chapman’s Peak Drive. According to the Lonely Planet guide this drive “is one of the most spectacular stretches of coastal highway of the world“. Challenge accepted, (Andy said) so off we went. It costs RD 42 each way to drive along this road which is S shaped and carved into the side of the mountain. It was stunning and worth the small toll.

We carried on driving along the main road north which follows the coast and eventually takes you to Cape Town. As to be expected, the further north you go the more busy and built up the area becomes. We will be going back to explore the Cape Town area a bit later in our trip so keep an eye out for that blog post.